American Gothicby
flip89Comment by _eug: **** Greeting from the Critique Club ****
Challenge
- Relevant to the Challenge? Yes
- Is subject unique (vs. unoriginal or rehashed)? Yes
Compostion
- Good or Bad? How can it be fixed? I like the off center composition of the... Waterworks, right? I like the branch framing in the top of the image, but the one thing that bugs me is the wire running diagonal in the top right. Probably not much you can do within the current editing constraints, but it affects the image.
- Good use of Depth of Field? Yes.
- Good focus? Yes, however a few commented on things being out-of-focus. There are several reasons for this. First, 1/15 shutter speed and moving people in low light. Second, there is also a softness to the Waterworks lighting that makes it occur soft/blurry, however I don't think that you can do much here.
Lighting
- Good use of light? Yes, although I'd reduce the exposure. The lights in the lower left and on the second floor are blownout.
- How can it be made better? Maybe try freexing the action with flash. At this distance it would not be enough to add details, but might remove the blur from the people. I don't know, you might like the people this way. Your call.
Aesthetics/Artistic Appeal:
- Colors and Contrast The two red lights in the lower right stand out. Since this is fairly monochromatic you might want to desaturate the reds to make them less noticable.
- What is my reaction or feelings? I love Chicago (I suspected this was the waterworks during voting). I love the feel this image has. The image does convey life in the city. A more fitting title may be, "Shoppers Passing The Waterworks."
